D2C snacking brand Sweet Karam Coffee (SKC) has raised $1.5 Mn from Fireside Ventures.
In a statement, the Chennai-based startup said it would use the funds for offline expansion, to enter new geographies, and to strengthen its regionalised product portfolio.
Founded in 2020 by Anand Bharadwaj, Nalini Parthiban, Srivatsan Sundararaman and Veera Raghavan, SKC offers a range of authentic south Indian sweets and snacks, which, it claims, are free from palm oil and preservatives. The D2C brand also sells filter coffee and ready meal mixes from a wide range of delicacies from Tamil Nadu and Kerala
It aims to promote the south Indian delicacies by addressing the problem of poor availability and accessibility of well-packaged traditional sweets and snacks.
SKC also plans to expand its portfolio by adding snacks and sweets from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Commenting on the funding, cofounder Parthiban said, “With Fireside’s vast portfolio of building leading D2C brands, we are excited to partner and work together with them to make Sweet Karam Coffee a global south Indian FMCG snacking brand for those seeking the authentic flavours of south India.”
SKC sells its products primarily through its own website and app, and claims to deliver them across 32 other countries besides India. It has also partnered with farmers from Tamil Nadu to offer a range of millet-based products.
SKC claims to be doubling its revenue year-on-year since its inception in 2020. The startup competes with D2C snacking brands like id Fresh Food, DropKaffe, Chaayos, TagZ, among others.
The increase in internet penetration and rising disposable incomes in the country have led to the rise of a number of D2C snacking brands in the country over the last few years. As per Inc42’s analysis, food and beverage makes up for 27% of the D2C segment in India.
This increase has also grabbed the attention of investors. Earlier this year, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan invested in omnichannel snack brand TagZ Foods. Prior to that, TABP Snacks and Beverages, which operates brand Tanvi Foods, raised INR 20 Cr in its pre-Series A funding round.
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